Metroid: Search for Samus

Ok, here's the new version! Like the previous versions, please don't host it on bnet. There's also some very minor multiplayer bugs I just found, which I'll take care of later. In singleplayer, it should be fine though. Enjoy =]

Download the map

Four posts in a row... =(

Anyway, I've fixed some major problems since the last release.
- There's more camera options, so now you can move the camera manually like in regular wc3 games.
- The doors are easier to go through and not accidently go through, and they stay open longer.
- Blocks and enemies respawn slower.
- The minor multiplayer bugs have been fixed.

I haven't worked on the map much lately, but I made a bunch of skins. The 4 skins for the demo tileset are complete (or at least very close). Also, the breakable block and space pirate skins are improved. For those who haven't tested the map yet, the interface is also done (for now at least).

And here's a screenshot of the tileset and interface. To be honest, it looks worse close up (hence the shrunken screenshot), so I might need some help later to get the details right.

Nice game! Love the sounds and the gameplay, but there are a few things that annoy me,

The camera, i wish there was a normal wc3 view that doesnt lock to your character or rotate around it.

Saving, when I was playing this I got really close to beating it, but i couldn't figure it out. so i saved the game and quit, and then later when i tried to load it it didn't work, this could be just my computer so i dunno.

Reserved energy, it took me a while to figure out what it was and how to use it, it would be easier to use if it were in the escape menu or on hte character in stand.

When you attack a missle door it takes like 5 missles possibly a trigger could be added to make it so when it is attacked it just dies so you dont waste that many missles.

and so thats all i gatta say.
and another nicely put together by warlord.

Already added the wc3 view camera =] I tried saving and loading a game, and it didn't work for me either. Good thing you found that, it would be a big issue in single player. It might have something to do with the disabling saving replays trigger, which I'll get rid of.

The reserve energy thing hopefully won't be as confusing later, because you won't be bombarded with 10 items at the same time anymore. I've considered adding it to the escape menu, but it might be difficult to do it quickly in an emergency... I dunno, I'll think about it.

For the missile door, I'd just have to lower its hitpoints. But I've kept the 5 hits thing in because it's more like the original, and it makes ammo conservation a little more important. It only takes one ammo thing to refill 5 missiles, so ammo isn't a problem, but I admit it is a little annoying to open them. Plus you can open it with one super missile.

Oh, and that map doesn't have an ending and you can't actually beat it, I guess I should have made that more clear =/

I don't exactly have the time to check the entire thread (I've been away longer than I thought) but is the project finished, or is this the BETA?

I (probably) need to move it, if it is finished.

the interface is AWESOME, i can hardly tell it's in wc3c and the new terrain realyl changes it awesome...

Thanks. By wc3c, you meant wc3, right? ;)

And the project's far from finished (although not TOO far), the newest version isn't even the demo yet. But, I'm working on the demo right now (well, not right NOW, but today.... or maybe tommorow). I'm going to stop working on the skins until the rest of the demo is done, since I might get some help with that.


And, there's another "skin" to be made for the demo (skip ahead to he next paragraph if you don't want to read my rambling). But I just need a picture, not an actual skin, I'll shrink it and put it the skin myself. In the intro cinematic, there's a space station (in space!), and it shows a 2d picture of it in the distance as your ship flies towards it. I'll need somebody to design and draw this. It can look like pretty much anything, a big grey-ish space station thingy, I dunno. But it CANNOT look like a big wheel, since the shape of the map is not big-wheel-shaped at all. The skin in the map is pretty small, so it doesn't need a huge amount of detail. Although some shading and some detail would be nice. Just grey is fine, I can tint it to the right colour later. And if you need any background on it, it's the one in the demo (story near the top of page 2). And I'm thinking of calling it "Aurora II".

That description was pretty long and pointless.... summary: I need someone to draw a picture of a space station, be creative.

Just an update: I'm making the actual demo right now, and that will be the next map I'm releasing. I made some more minibosses and just finished the map layout, so it shouldn't be TOO long before I'm done the whole map. I still need a few more skins before I release the demo though. Please see my request thread if you want to help!

Bump again.

I'm already about 50% done the map part of the demo (the terrain). After that there's only the ending sequence/boss triggers left to make, but I'm still waiting for some skins (which I might have to end up making myself). Plus there's the samus model, which can't be finished until the mdl importer is released with animation importing.

- BETA TEST SIGNUP -
I'll need testers when the demo is almost done, so anyone can start signing up now. Say whether you want the map to test singleplayer, or whether you can test it on bnet, and which server.

And the demo is going to be a bit bigger and longer than I first thought, which means the final will probably end up bigger than planned too. Anyway, once the demo is done, I'm thinking of either getting this hosted here on wc3campaigns, or at wc3ModForge (which has recently gotten back up). Any thoughts?

Sign me up. I'l do some extensive testing in singleplayer if that's okay.

I think I've said this already, but keep up the work! It looks fascinating.

Thanks for volunteering

Aside from progress on the demo, I also made the combat system much simpler. Now you can use hold position or attack the ground to attack the nearest enemy, but when you do something else, you're aquisition range goes way down. No more precise clicking on enemies!

And I discovered that there's a limit of 600 buildings on the map. I had to redo how the water and high cliffs work, and it might have reduced the lag a bit =) But, it might mean that I can't make the final map as big as I had planned (or I could just be really careful not to put in too many buildings). I think the best way to solve it would be to include less puzzles in the final, and make it more combat oriented.

I've also been thinking of maybe calling the demo "Part 1" or "Mission 1" or something, and the final could be part 2. But that might not work too well since the demo has absolutely no searching for samus, and is just a prequel to the next map. Also, it has only 45 items in it, compared to the 100 that will be in the final. But, I DO want to give it an attractive name that will make people want to play both episodes and not ignore the first one because it's called "demo". I dunno, any suggestions?

I think demo would be fine. Or, maybe it could just be that you've begun to take your way to where Samus is being held, but you've run into some trouble.

HOLY CRAP!
That's a nce interface!

Everyone loves the interface except for me =/ I guess it's just less impressive up close in the highest resolution... Anyway, some more screenshots!


I have a subforum at wc3modforge.com now, but I'd still like to keep this thread alive. I'm also going to need help soon with various things (sknning, testing, the suit model, and later some boss ideas). As for my progress: I'm almost done terraining the demo, but there's two bosses to make after (and during) that. Then I just need to make the ending, and the demo will be done! Unfortunately I'll be pretty busy with other things, but I'll try to be as efficient as I can